April 26, 2017
For immediate release
ALBUQUERQUE– This morning, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the United States Department of the Interior to review all national monument designations from the past 21 years for monuments of 100,000 acres or larger. This order is an unprecedented threat to the national monuments in New Mexico and elsewhere that sportsmen and women worked so hard to protect.
Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monuments offer premier hunting and fishing opportunities in the northern and southern parts of New Mexico. Whether fishing for cutthroat trout and hunting bighorn sheep in the north or hunting desert mule deer and quail in the south, our national monuments provide amazing opportunities for all New Mexicans to recreate in the outdoors.
Despite the criticism from public land seizure proponents, these monuments have diverse and widespread support from local communities. As visitation to these monuments has increased, local economies have seen an influx of additional recreation dollars. Now extreme anti-conservation politicians who have supported selling off our public lands to the highest bidder and/or transferring these lands to state ownership are getting their way – despite the objections of Westerns who want to keep our monuments.
“This executive order is of great concern to sportsmen and women and all Americans who love the outdoors,” said Executive Director Garrett Vene Klasen. “Time and time again bills attempting to sell off our public lands have failed because of public outcry – most often led by sportsmen and women. It is clear that the American people do not want our public lands and monument sold off. Anyone who hunts and fishes knows the importance of public lands and should be opposed to minimizing or eliminating our monuments or public lands in any way.”
Thankfully, we have strong public lands advocates in New Mexico in Senators Tom Udall and Senator Martin Heinrich. We hope they will continue to stand up for the national monuments we know and love, and will encourage Secretary Ryan Zinke to do the same. Zinke describes himself as a conservationist in the vein of Theodore Roosevelt, leaving us wondering why he is not vigorously defending the Antiquities Act and our public lands. We also remind the administration of its treaty-bound duty to meaningfully consult with any and all affected tribes when it comes to monument and public lands designation.
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation believes this executive order sets a dangerous precedent for rolling back national monument protections for public lands, thus allowing these lands to be developed or sold off in the future.
